Saturday, November 25, 2006

Creating a Blog for Sarah Jane

I've discovered many authors develop web sites or blogs for their books, series of books or a particular character. I decided to create a blog for Sarah Jane - Pioneer Girl at http://sarahjane-pioneergirl.blogspot.com .

She's the character in one of my short stores, Sarah Jane's Daring Deed, that was published in four magazines (I retained the rights) and in my anthology, Tales of Discovery & Adventure. Sarah Jane evolved from research I was doing for a newspaper column about the history of the area where I live in New Hampshire. I began to wonder what it was like for youngsters to live in this newly settled land. Thus the story about Sarah Jane and Little Fawn resulted.

This story is the first one in my anthology and has become a favorite among the young readers when I visit schools and present workshops. It's become one I feel akin with, too. My daughter even made dolls to accompany me to school when I work with young people.

"Why don't you write some more adventures about Sarah Jane?" youngsters have asked me.

So a picture book is in the works and more story ideas are mulling around in my mind. Then I realized my readers might enjoy a blog about Sarah Jane, where she lived, and those pioneer days. Since I'm also a teacher, I've been developing activities to accompany writing and history lessons. Some of my school visits (with Sarah Jane) have involved having the young writers and readers work on stories set in Sarah Jane's era.

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